Photo: Vanity Fair
Alec Baldwin, actor of controversial upcoming film Rust, says that he did not pull the trigger of the firearm prop on set. The shooting which occurred October 21 in Santa Fe wounded director Joel Souza and fatally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin spoke to ABC News‘ Stephanopoulos. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger, never.”
Baldwin has been moved to tears in a clip of the interview released Wednesday recounting the last moments of the late Hutchins. Since the shooting, this was one of the first public statements made by the actor.
The prop gun which had gone off during a marking rehearsal was an antique Colt .45 revolver.
Assistant director Dave Halls handed the firearm to Baldwin, court records show. Halls said “cold gun” to Baldwin before the rehearsal, implying that it was safe to use, documents show.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin remarked in an interview with ABC. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
Halyna Hutchins, 42 years old when she was killed, was a Ukrainian cinematographer and journalist. While cast and crew are conflicted on where the liability lies, the incident stays under investigation. Where to charge the crime hangs in the air.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said that the authorities recovered a bullet from Souza’s shoulder. Investigators have gathered evidence, including “possible additional live rounds” on set. These collected items will be dispatched to the FBI for analysis, Mendoza said.
“I think there was some complacency on this set, and I think there are some safety issues that need to be addressed by the industry and possibly by the state of New Mexico, but I’ll leave that up to the industry and the state as to what those need to be,” Mendoza added.
Baldwin disclosed that the shooting incident and death of Hutchins was the worst thing that ever happened to him. The 63-year-old actor told ABC, “It doesn’t seem real to me.”